Ron Ellis

A lifelong Toronto Maple Leaf and one of the more consistent players to wear the blue and white, Ron played every one of his 1,034 NHL games with Toronto. Ron scored 23 goals as a rookie, an incredible total for that era, dipped to 19 the next year and then reeled off 10 successive seasons of 20 or more He was the quintessential winger who patrolled the right side as if it were a lane. His only Stanley Cup came in 1967, the last time the Leafs won the Cup.

In 1972, Ron played for Team Canada against the USSR. He played all 8 games of the series despite playing with a broken collarbone. Ron retired at the end of the 1975 season and stayed retired for 2 years before returning to the Leafs and playing another 4 seasons.

Ron Ellis was so highly respected that Ace Bailey, whose number 6 was retired by the Leafs, offered Ron the privilege of wearing that number. As soon as Ron retired, the Leafs again took the number out of circulation.

Following his retirement from hockey, Ron suffered a serious depression. Ron struggled mightily and in fact, his trials are the subject of his book “Over The Boards: The Ron Ellis Story”. Ron enjoys speaking to groups about clinical depression and his journey through these dark times in the life of an all-time great Toronto Maple Leaf.